The Waiting

Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch, Book 6

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver, Madison Lintz

In this instant New York Times bestseller, LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold and enlists a new volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: patrol officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter. ​

Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-four, so the genetic link must be familial: His father was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.
Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department ammunition to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her mission draws her into unexpected danger. With no choice but to go outside the department for help, she knocks on the door of Harry Bosch.

At the same time, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch’s daughter Maddie, now a patrol officer. But Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls—a case that may be the most iconic in the city’s history. Complex, satisfying, and full of dexterous twists, The Waiting demonstrates once more that “you can’t do better than Michael Connelly” (Forbes).

Critic reviews

“A Hawaiian coda provides the best news of all: This distinguished series has plenty of miles to go. Aloha, and hooray.”—Kirkus Reviews

Three talented narrators bring to life the sixth installment of this series featuring LAPD detectives Renée Ballard, who leads the new Cold Case Unit, and Harry Bosch, retired. Christine Lakin returns to masterfully capture Ballard's on-the-job rebelliousness and struggles relating to her missing mother. Listeners also reconnect with Bosch's daughter, Maddie, now a patrol officer, whose youthful intensity is brought to life by Madison Lintz. Maddie stumbles upon potential evidence in an infamous 70-year-old cold case and eagerly volunteers to work in Ballard's unit. In a brief but satisfying appearance, Titus Welliver voices Bosch, who is summoned by Ballard to help with a personal matter that escalates into a major case. With its multiple plotlines--ranging from cold cases to a terrorist plot--this production offers nonstop entertainment. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2024]—AudioFile Earphones Award Winner

Pretty good but too much Ballard, not enough Bosch.

I loved all of the Bosch books but have cooled since introducing Renee Ballard, who, to me, is a pretty flat character. Bosch has more nuance, more backstory, more dimension.

The plot line for The Waiting is intriguing and I appreciated the revisiting of the Black Dahlia but in a new way - more about her death than about her life, which has been the subject of countless (read Too Many) TV shows, books and movies.

The reader could follow the trail picked up on the outside edge of a spiral and watch as that thread marched slowly inward, closing on suspects, eliminating some and highlighting others. The character of Colleen was annoying - so annoying, in fact, you just knew she would play a significant role in the case’s outcome.

The hand-off from Harry to Maddie isn’t successful for me. Harry’s world-weary determination simply can’t be replaced by Maddie’s junior detective work. She’s fine in a minor role but has not got anywhere near enough gravitas to hold interest as a cop or investigator.

Connelly always sets the scene in a way you can smell, hear, see and even taste the characters and the ambience. Those details bring a richness which I love to his stories.

I liked the book quite well but I kept wishing Harry Bosch was front and center throughout and that didn’t happen. Having Titus Welliver do the narration is great. To me, he is the gravelly, wounded but ever-brilliant voice of Harry Bosch.

The Waiting

For the first third to half of the book, I thought I had heard it, even though it’s newly released. Connelly is seemingly reaching back to his last novel for a lot of this. Readers were good, and ultimately there was an in tree wresting premise and follow through.

One of Connolly’s best

Outstanding in all phases of audio book listening. Couldn’t stop! Looking forward to more Ballard and Maddie stories. Narration was superb

Female police mystery

Love the Bosch connection! Great story, characters and location! Lots of twists and turns, which kept me guessing! And some surprises!

Ballard is a great cop

I liked the twists and turns. A good mystery. one of Michael Connely's best. Understandable audio.